The Ohio University Alumni Association is excited to introduce you to the next installment in our virtual series, Empower Hour! Beginning in 2021, this event takes place once a month on the third Wednesday from 1-2 p.m. EST.

Empower Hour is a program that explores important and relevant topics centered around the theme of continued personal growth and education. We want to equip OHIO alumni with the knowledge they need to become their best selves!

This Empower Hour segment is called "Cryptocurrency: So What's the Big Deal?" This segment will be led by Drs. Aaron Wilson and David Stott from Ohio University’s School of Accountancy and Levi Liljenquist, Esquire. They will discuss the foundations of cryptocurrency and how it could impact you. The past few months have seen an increasing acceptance of cryptocurrency by public companies and institutional investors. This presentation will broadly discuss the basics of crypto along with key concepts including: third party efforts to assess crypto, the process of staking, and a discussion about the general resources for learning more about this rapidly growing and exciting area. The conversation will end with a Q&A session where the presenters will attempt to address your questions about how this new avenue of investing might involve you in the future.

Aaron Wilson, Ph.D, CPA, CFE
Dr. Wilson is an assistant professor in the School of Accountancy at Ohio University and holds designations as both a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Fraud Examiner. Prior to obtaining his Ph.D., Aaron worked as an auditor with PricewaterhouseCoopers.  He received his Ph.D. in Accounting from Washington State University, his Master of Accountancy degree from Wright State University and his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University. His teaching interests include undergraduate and graduate Auditing as well as Accounting for Executives as part of Ohio University’s MBA program. Aaron has published in journals such as the  International Journal of Auditing, Journal of Governmental &Nonprofit Accounting, Journal of Forensic Accounting Research,  and the  Journal of Investigative and Forensic Accounting  and has received research grants from the Institute for Fraud Prevention and the Institute of Management Accountants. He is active in the American Accounting Association, currently serving as the President of the Ohio Region and is also the Co-Program Chair for the AAA Forensic Section midyear meeting in 2021. Additionally, Aaron is currently serving as a guest editor for a special issue of the  Journal of Forensic Accounting Research .

David M. Stott, Ph.D., CPA
Dr. Stott joined the Ohio University faculty in 2016 and serves as the Director of the School of Accountancy and the  O’Bleness Professor of Accountancy .  He previously served as the Director of Graduate Programs in Accounting and Chair of the Department of Accounting and MIS at Bowling Green State University where he held the  Maurer Family Distinguished Professorship in Accounting .

Dr. Stott received his undergraduate degree in Accounting from Texas State University and both his Master of Accountancy and Ph.D. degrees from Washington State University. He initially received his CPA certificate in Texas and is currently certified and licensed to practice in Ohio. Dr. Stott's research and teaching interests are primarily in financial accounting and reporting, auditing, and the conceptual framework.

Dr. Stott is active in both academic and professional organizations. He is a member of the American Accounting Association (recently completing service as Council Chair), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Before returning to academia, he spent several years working for Arthur Andersen & Co. in Houston (leaving well before the Enron debacle!).  David and his wife Ann have two wonderful adult children – Randi and Michael.

Levi Liljenquist, Esquire Levi is an attorney and Wealth Management Trust Advisor. For the previous thirteen years, he has provided solutions for high net worth clients residing in Washington and Idaho with their estate, trust, financial, and tax-related questions.

Levi earned a B.A. with a major in Philosophy from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Levi also holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Minnesota School of Law (2005) and a Master of Laws in taxation from the University of Washington School of Law (2006). In 2005, Levi passed the bar and was sworn into the Washington State Bar.

From 2006 through 2012, Levi practiced law with the law firm of Paine Hamblen. Levi practiced law at Liljenquist Law, PLLC (2012 to 2015), Ewing Anderson P.S. (2015 to 2017) and Witherspoon Brajcich McPhee (2017 to 2019) for the next seven years before ultimately joining the U.S. Bank Wealth Management team in 2019.

Outside of work, Levi enjoys spending time with his family, reading, and being outdoors.

You will receive a confirmation email upon registration that will include details on how to join this virtual event.

If you have any questions, please email Associate Director, Alumni Experiences, Caleb Beasecker at  beasecker@ohio.edu .